Of Monsters And Cookies
by cluelessclown
Summary: Sunday mornings are never peaceful at the Knope-Wyatt house. And Leslie is perfectly okay with it. Drabble-ish, one-shot.


Leslie hadn't felt this at peace for a while now.

She rolled under the covers, her half-closed eyes squinting at a small photo Ben had placed on their bedside table only a couple of weeks ago. She smiled at the sight of her holding Wesley, his rosy little fingers pushing up the round plastic glasses they had bought him when they realized their son couldn't see properly. Ben was giving a piggyback ride to their daughter Sonia, whose toothy grin and bright yellow hair were said by many to be just like Leslie's while growing up. In the picture, Ben had also scooped Stephen into his arms — Leslie couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of their little son intently poking his father's cheeks, as though it were some sort of playing dough.

That was it. That was her family. Her three lovely little misfits and their even lovelier father. Now that she came to think about it, Leslie had never imagined that she would ever feel so lucky — not only did she have the best family she could ask for, but also had a job she adored and friends whom she would trust with her life (being sure that they would all always keep her safe in their odd, wonderful ways). Now Ben was running for Congress, and the sole sight of him smiling goofily at one of the posters that had been designed for his campaign or panicking over where to place his microphone before an interview already made Leslie feel oddly happy. Happy because she knew they were both doing what they loved the most, and most importantly because she knew that whatever they did, they would always do it having the other's back.

However, all of her thoughts suddenly faded away when she felt a very well-known thumb rubbing against her side, as it had done every other morning for the last five years.

"You awake, Lesliemin?"

She rolled around and gave him a sleepy smile. "I am, yeah. Did you sleep all right?"

"Oh no, I'm still sleeping. Actually, it's my robot alter ego you're talking to." Ben chuckled. Leslie rolled her eyes, but smiled nevertheless, because obviously his dorky jokes were one of the many things she loved about him.

"It's weird that those little fellas haven't tried to wake us up already," She commented, glancing at the bedside table clock. "Sonia's usually here around eight, asking for waffles or toast or hash browns."

"Well, I don't know about Sonia, but Stephen came around four. Apparently he wanted to pee but he was terribly scared of some monster hidden in the bathtub. So I personally had to go kill this monster with my laser sword to ensure our children's safety while using the bathroom."

Leslie chuckled lightly at the story, because she could totally picture Ben swishing his laser sword in the bathroom at four in the morning with Stephen clambering up his back. He definitely had a way with kids that she hadn't known of when they first got together — but now that he had become such a terrific paternal figure, she couldn't help but think that the endearment he showed to their children every day was lovely, to say the least.

That was when she felt a little bump on their bed as two little bodies landed on it. She glanced up to find Sonia and Wesley sitting together, their eyes wide open and their tiny lips curled up as every other Sunday morning.

"Good mowning!" Sonia said happly as she crawled her way up to her dad, just as Wesley lurched happily towards his mother.

"Heeeey, little one." Ben chuckled as he scooped Sonia into his arms, rubbing his nose against his daughter's. "Where's Stephen?"

"He says he wanna thank you for killing the monster, dadda," explained Wesley. Out of their three children, Wesley was the one who spoke the softest, but also the one that did it most correctly.

"I'm sure that was some monster, the one that Dad killed." Leslie laughed. The moment she spoke, Sonia's arm stretched towards her, and started tousling her mother's hair like she'd grown accustomed to.

"Mom, your hair is pwetty." She declared a little later, a toothy grin on her face. "And Dad's _spooky_."

"I think you mean _spiky_, don't you darling?" Leslie asked, poking her daughter's nose with a smile. "Your dad's hair is a bit messy, but it's definitely nothing to feel scared about."

"Hey!" chuckled Ben as Wesley started messing with his hair.

"I'm sorry, Benjamin," Leslie sighed jokingly as her eyebrows rose. "Seriously though, where's Stephen?"

"Am right here, mommy!"

Leslie's eyesight rose right in time to watch Stephen hop onto the center of the bed, his tiny hands clasping the cookie jar tightly. Leslie eyed Ben with an odd look — they always placed the cookie jar on the upper shelf of the kitchen so that it wasn't within the kids' reach.

Ben furrowed his brow as he looked at their three-year-old son. "How did you ever get that? Stephen, you're not supposed to climb around the kitchen. The cookies were placed there for a reason. Besides, you could have been hurt."

"Sorry," Stephen said quickly. Leslie smiled: her son was as blunt and as terrible at apologizing as she was. The toddler then took out a cookie and handed it to his dad. "T'was a _tank-you_ present, 'cause you were the best dadda in the _wouwd_ last night and I _luf_ you."

Leslie couldn't help but smile when she saw the wholehearted grin that had appeared on Ben's face. Without saying a word, he pulled Stephen into his arms and started to press kisses all over his head. Stephen giggled, and soon Ben's kisses passed to Wesleys tufty brown hair, and then onto Sonia's, which was bright yellow. The three of them laughed loudly, squirming around as they tried to get closer to their dad.

However, Ben's lips ultimately found themselves inches away from Leslie's, a broad grin on his face as the three children cuddled between their mom and dad with little shrieks of joy and soft kicks to their parents' legs.

"They really have it in them to be the best people on earth, don't they?" he whispered, the grin on his face now replaced by a subtle, yet meaningful smile.

"They do. They most definitely do." said Leslie, nodding just as Sonia buried her face into her stomach. She leaned forward and rubbed her nose against Ben's. "But maybe that's because htey have the coolest parents on earth, too."

Ben's lips curled into a smile as he nodded his head. "Yeah, that's kind of a good point." And with that he pressed a kiss to her lips, which Leslie quickly returned as their children giggled about some unexplored tale they would surely tell their parents about later that day.

"You know what?" Leslie whispered as she rubbed her thumb against the small of Ben's back. "I think marrying you was the best decision I've ever taken."

Ben's smile broadened yet again and, when he was just about to answer, his words got lost under a murmur that came from a few inches below them.

"Mommy, I think I've spilled the cookies..."

And they both chuckled quietly as they thanked themselves for having somehow winded up in a bed with they four people they both loved the most.

...

**So yeah, I just felt like writting a little fluffy fic because apparently I can't come to terms with Parks and Rec being over. *sobs***

**-cluelessclown.**


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